Editorial: Giuliani's call -- rude or conniving?

Tuesday

Sep 25, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 25, 2007 at 3:19 PM

Technology changes much faster than the rules of etiquette, so we're a long way from settling on the do's and don'ts of cell phone use. But many people, maybe most, consider it rude to interrupt a business discussion with people you don't know well to take, and complete, a non-emergency personal call.

Technology changes much faster than the rules of etiquette, so we're a long way from settling on the do's and don'ts of cell phone use.

But many people, maybe most, consider it rude to interrupt a business discussion with people you don't know well to take, and complete, a non-emergency personal call. The more serious the business, the more important the meeting, the more inappropriate the interruption.

And if it's a really important meeting, where you're addressing hundreds of strangers on serious issues, taking a cell call from your wife just to say "have a good trip" is especially disconcerting. Excuse the stereotype, but it's the kind of rudeness we expect from an arrogant New Yorker so full of himself he doesn't care what anyone thinks.

Which naturally brings us to Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani was addressing several thousand members of the National Rifle Association last week, trying to explain how his past support for gun control laws was aimed at criminal thugs in New York, not fine members of the NRA, and that 9/11 had changed everything, including his thinking about gun control. It's hard to know what that means, and in any event, just as he was expressing his admiration for the Second Amendment -- mistakenly quoting a phrase about "the people shall be secure" from the Fourth Amendment -- his cell phone rang.

Smiling, Giuliani took the call and, without leaving the podium, had a nice little chat, supposedly with his wife. She was just getting on a plane and apparently wanted Rudy to wish her a safe journey. He explained where he was, and his wife asked that he send her regards to the NRA.

Now it appears taking the call wasn't bad manners, it was campaign schtick. Giuliani pulled the same stunt at an earlier appearance in Florida, when his wife allegedly called while he was making a campaign speech.

Giuliani's campaign swears it really was Mrs. Giuliani on the phone in both instances, not a campaign aide giving the candidate an opportunity to change the subject, show his human side or send the message that, whatever happened with Guiliani's previous two wives, this marriage is sound.

The NRA audience was polite, if not enthusiastic, after Giuliani's speech. Maybe they were trying to figure out whether he thinks 9/11 is a reason to loosen or tighten gun control laws. Maybe they were wondering how he could get confused about the wording of an amendment that is only 27 words long. Or maybe they were trying to decide whether, in taking the cell phone call, the candidate was being conniving or just rude.